...
Harsh and piercing booms were everywhere.
All that Zero could hear between these booms were faint cries of pain.
The frontline was a vanguard formed by God's Punishment Warriors, while the backline was the slowly advancing Judgement Army. This was the "Big Shield" formation that was rehearsed to deal with the swarm attacks of demonic beasts, but it was equally effective against crossbows and flintlocks. The iron shields, which were each only as thick as a finger, were able to deflect volleys of arrows, and could not be penetrated by Timothy's imitation flintlocks. Their only disadvantage was that they were excessively heavy, and thus only the God's Punishment Army could carry them into battle.
However, this time, it lost its effectiveness.